I have failed to understand the streak of stubbornness that has manifested itself in the dynamics of decision making both with regard to the Chief of our Caretaker Government and also the Acting Chief Election Commissioner of the Election Commission. They appear to be deliberately disregarding public opinion and are undertaking a course of action which is bound to lead to further problems rather than solutions.

There is very little in terms of constructive engagement. Instead, the events of the past few days have made things that much more complex.

Like many other analysts, I have in the past highlighted several demands that need to be addressed to hold a free and fair election.

In this context, attention has been drawn to the fact that we have a flawed voters list. Estimates made by independent foreign observers and also by local civil societies have indicated that corrections need to be made with regard to more than 13 million ghosts who presently inhabit this haunted voters list.

Let me move next to the question of reconstitution of the Election Commission. Innovative measures have been taken. Justice Aziz has apparently taken leave and decided that he will stay out of the Election Commission. Justice Mahfuzur Rahman, one of the Election Commissioners, with the help of the two other Election Commissioners, had himself appointed as the new Acting Chief Election Commissioner. There was no transparency in the manner in which this was accomplished. Instead it was presented to the nation as a fait accompli.

The whole paradigm of reconstitution has been further affected with the appointment of two new additional Election Commissioners. It appears to have been done without any consultation with political parties or through consensus among the different Advisers in the Caretaker Administration. Consequently, it will nor resolve the issue of legitimacy or remove charges of election engineering.

The election schedule has also been announced and dates fixed for the necessary steps to be completed. The relevant authorities need not have been so hasty. By undertaking such action, they have only raised the political ante and proven once again that they are in favour of one particular group amongst the many political parties. Election Commission Secretariat officials have said that they have had to announce the schedule because they have very little time. I find that difficult to accept. Last time round in 2001, such announcement of the election schedule was done much later within the time frame.

Such actions have eroded the credibility of the Institution even further. This measure of cutting corners and taking a short-cut was eerily similar to the method used by the President in assuming the role of Chief of the Caretaker Administration.

It is indeed sad and disappointing that at every opportunity, decisions are being taken without discussion or consensus. Such an attitude only smacks of autocratic arrogance and total disregard of public opinion.

It has been reported (in 'The Financial Express' of 27 November) that the President and Chief Adviser during his meeting with Awami League Secretary General Abdul Jalil on 26 November has made it clear that 'the Caretaker Government had already fulfilled all possible demands raised by the Awami League-led 14 -Party Alliance, particularly those for ensuring their participation in the upcoming elections.' The President was also quoted as having urged Jalil that his Alliance should 'keep your (their) words and take part in the elections'. The President is also understood to have stated that the Awami League and its partners should withdraw their agitation programmes since their 'demands were (had been) met.'

There seems to be a fundamental flaw in the reasoning process within the Bangabhaban.

I am afraid that those responsible for assisting the Chief of the Caretaker Government are not doing their tasks as efficiently as they should. The demands on the street are not just of the 14-Party Alliance. These demands are an expression of general public opinion. I also do not understand how the President can claim that the public demands have been met.

We have also not seen any special effort with regard to another important aspect of the electoral process that is vital for holding a free and fair election. I am referring here to the more than 1,100 partisan electoral officials who were appointed in critical positions all over the country by the past Administration. Very little has been done in terms of re-arrangement of their respective responsibilities.

The sense of prevailing uncertainty has also been heightened through eleven leaders of the 14-Party Alliance jointly filing three writ petitions in the High Court against the President's assumption of the post of Chief Adviser, his manner of exercising executive power and the Election Commission move to declare the election schedule before finalising (correcting) the existing voters list. The petitioners have asked the Court to direct the Chief Adviser to hand over the office of the Chief Adviser to 'a person who is competent, qualified, eligible, available and entitled to claim the valid legal title to such public office.'

Such a move on their part has made the entire scene that much more complex. Some of the petitioners had been openly talking of such a view of the last few days. They have since claimed that they had refrained from filing such writs before because they wanted to see if the current Chief of the Caretaker Administration would be able to prove his neutrality. They now feel that the President a person appointed to that post for his loyalty towards the BNP-led Four Party Alliance, had failed to rise to the occasion.

The High Court in its wisdom will adjudicate on these writ petitions. Ordinary citizens will wait to see which way the coin falls.

The President as Chief of the Caretaker Administration has to understand that it will not be enough to just have an election. It has to be acceptable to all, both at home and abroad. That alone will lend credibility to the electoral process. What is required is a plain and level playing field. There must be equal opportunity for all concerned. He, as well as those in the Election Commission, have to realize that fate has given in their hands a chance to be remembered by posterity. They have to come down from their ivory tower and find realistic solutions to the existing problems.

At this point of time they are suffering from the ostrich syndrome. Such an approach will not do. The future stability of the country is at stake and they have to rise to the occasion.

Muhammad Zamir is a former Secretary and Ambassador who can be reached at [email protected].